Sunny
by ThatPurplyThing
Summary: Ivan has been receiving letters from a mysterious person, and waits at his school dance for them. Has he been stood up, or is the mystery person not as mysterious as he thinks? RusAme, High School AU


**This was based on an rp I had with a friend, dani-aru. I rp'd Ivan, and she was Alfred. She had to leave about halfway through, so I took what we made, and added more to it, writing a story with it.**

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Ivan tugged at his scarf anxiously as he gazed around the crowded gymnasium. Couples were either in the center of the room dancing to the too-loud music, standing to the side, or sitting at tables to mingle. Ivan sat at a table by himself, holding a cup of really cheap tasting fruit punch, even though he had no intent to drink it. It was just something to occupy his hands. He initially didn't want to go to the dance his high school was throwing, but his mother's fixation on getting his picture taken in a tuxedo, and a series of mysterious letters had gotten him to change his mind. The letters were apparently from a secret admirer who had written that they would reveal themselves to him at the dance. Ivan had been waiting for an entire hour. He just really hoped that it wasn't some cruel prank by some idiots. He actually was kind of excited to recieve such letters, since they made him feel like he was at least admired by someone besides his mom or sisters. But since he had been waiting so long, and there was no sign of this mystery man or woman, he decided to wait another five minutes, and then go home, so he could evade humiliation.

Alfred feigned another laugh as he retold one of his heroic tales to the large crowd of his peers surrounding him. He couldn t help but let his eyes wander to the Russian teen sitting by himself and he bit the inside of his lip. He had intended to go meet the other right away, but had quickly found himself cornered by the group of teens. He shuffled on his feet a bit. How the hell was he supposed to talk to the other with all these people watching him? Ivan was kind of a loner and Alfred was just not. He inwardly sighed and excused himself to the punch bowl with his usual 100-watt smile in place. He slunk to the side of the gym to get a clearer path and escape his friends prying eyes. It wasn't that he was ashamed to talk to Ivan, he just wanted this moment to be somewhat private. He flushed at the thought and grabbed the cup of punch and made his way over to the other, a nervous knot forming in his stomach. He took a large breath to calm his nerves.

"Hey." He said loudly so the other could hear him over the music.

Ivan looked up and saw his childhood friend Alfred coming over to his table. They had been quite inseparable during elementary school, but as sixth grade came around, things became complicated. Ever since Gilbert or some other obnoxious boy had started a rumor about Ivan's... preferences, things became worse, as the rumors became more cruel and twisted, eventually alienating Alfred from Ivan altogether. Things were a little less cold during freshman year of high school, but the closeness they had, their friendship it wasn't there anymore. Alfred had his group of friends, and Ivan had nobody, really. He was too shy to really strike up conversations, and whenever he made a valiant attempt to talk to somebody, they backed away at least two feet. It wasn't his fault he was so tall, or big boned.

Ivan gave a small smile, and replied softly,"Hello.", before he looked back to the wall, paying attention to the clock. Three more minutes, and he was sunk.

Alfred followed the other's gaze and he cleared his throat. He had no idea why he felt so nervous right now. It was totally uncharacteristic of him, and besides it was just Ivan...His crush for at least two years now, maybe even longer. The American swallowed thickly, and slid his eyes shut for a brief moment.

"What's up? I haven't really talked to you in forever, dude", he said, offering the other a somewhat forced smile. He switched his hands to grip onto the plastic cup tightly and wiped the other on his pants.

Ivan shrugged, and replied blankly, with slight hesitance, "Not much." And that pretty much summed it up. Ever since his friendship with Alfred fell apart, he never really went to any social events. He'd just go home, and make paintings down in the basement. He always felt much happier when he was in front of a canvas, because he could bring so much color to it. He never really liked to socialize, since nobody liked to socialize with him. His mother had signed him up for a theater camp one summer before high school, and he had to admit it was pretty fun, since he proved to be a little more popular there, but nobody there really kept contact. So once he was done with that, he was all alone again

"Mind if I sit?" , Alfred asked hoping to keep his voice casual as he gestured to the vacant seat across from Ivan.

He looked back up to Alfred, and gave another small, forced smile, "I don't mind if you sit. I'm actually just...um...waiting for somebody."

Alfred's heart leapt in his chest at Ivan s words. He nodded and slid down into the chair shifting against the uncomfortably cold metal nervously.

"Really?" , he asked carefully keeping his voice strictly curious, as if he didn t already know exactly what he was talking about. He gave the other a lopsided grin and hit him on the arm playfully. "Hot date?", he joked. He brought his hand back quickly, his heart pounding about three hundred miles a minute in his chest at just the simple contact of his sleeve. God, he really was becoming pathetic. The blond felt the corners of his mouth pull down slightly at that, but he quickly fixed his smile back into place.

Ivan shrugged, not smiling at the joke. Not that he didn't find it funny, but he just didn't like to smile in general, especially since he had braces. He'd been picked on enough for his body, he didn t need those hunks of metal to be brought into the equation. Ivan pulled out the last letter he had received from the stranger that was taped in his locker. He had begged Toris to tell him who had given him the notes to put inside the locker, but his locker partner refused to say. Ivan held the letter gently in his hands, admiring the lovely sky blue paper it was written on, with the tiny sunflowers decorating the lower right corner. The handwriting itself was very nice. In all of these letters, they had called him 'Sunny' . It was kind of cute, that nickname. Whoever had written these letters was very good, because they knew how to make Ivan run to his room, lock the door, and jump on his bed in joy. Every letter was signed from 'Someone who Likes You' .

He pointed to the letter in his hands,"I've been getting letters from someone for the last two weeks. They said they'd show up as my date for the dance, but they haven't shown up."

He gazed at the clock again, and sighed, his heart sinking. There was no point in waiting for another minute. He bit his lip in disappointment and frustration, accidentally crinkling a corner of his letter. His eyes were burning, and his cheeks grew hot, as he shouted to himself in his head, _Don t cry, not in front of Alfred._

He shakily announced, "I think I'll leave now..." and got up before he could start crying, and embarrassing himself.

Alfred gaped up at Ivan. This wasn't how he had planned this to go at all. Of course, he was supposed to show up about forty-five minutes ago, but that couldn't have been helped. He stood up from his seat quickly and reached forward to grip Ivan s arm without even really thinking the action through first. "Ivan... Wait, I-" He chewed the inside of his cheek. He wanted to tell the other so badly that it was him who had been writing to him for the past two weeks, longer than that even but it hadn t been until just recently that he had gotten up the courage to put the notes in his locker. Still... he had no idea how he would react if he found out it had been Alfred writing him the notes. After all, they had been best friends once upon a time. Was he even capable of thinking of the American as anything but an old friend from the past?

"I was just thinking of leaving too... Can I give ya a ride home... Or something?" He asked, loosening his grip on the taller teen's arm. Alfred inwardly cursed at the words that came out instead of the ones he so desperately needed to say. _I must be a real coward._ He thought miserably.

Ivan bit his lip until he could feel the burn in his eyes receding. Alfred was offering to give him a ride home? This was a pretty big offer coming from Alfred, who hadn't even spoken more than ten words to him since sophomore year. Maybe Alfred was trying to rebuild their friendship? Or maybe he was just trying to be nice. Ivan couldn't tell. But in any case, it might have made his already ruined night a little less awful. And he'd be too embarrassed to have to call his mother. He nodded, and forced a smile, but said gratefully, "Y-yes. I don t have a car thank you."

Alfred's face broke into a bright grin and he nodded, releasing his hold on the other in the process. "Great! It's just out front. Come on." He said cheerfully, surprised Ivan had even accepted his offer. Maybe there was still a chance for tonight to work out maybe? The American sent out a silent prayer to whatever god may be listening and gestured for Ivan to follow him out of the crowded room.

"I never really liked these sort of things anyways. There's too many girls grinding everywhere and these suits are uncomfortable!" He said, making idle chatter as they exited the room.

"Da, me neither. I don t really like being around so many people...", muttered the Russian, feeling a little less disturbed as they exited the noisy, stuffy gymnasium and walked into the cool night. He tugged his scarf a little, and then looked at the letter in his hand. Feeling ashamed, he crunched it between his hands, and crumpled it into a ball, tossing it half-heartedly at the garbage can, not caring that it bounced off the edge.

Alfred turned at the noise and furrowed his brows as he saw his letter now crumpled on the ground. He glanced up a Ivan for a brief moment and shook his head almost sadly.

"Whoever your secret admirer was, they sure missed out. Don't get upset over some chump, dude." And that's exactly what he was. A chump who was too afraid to reveal his identity to the other. He cleared his throat and continued towards the parking lot, shoving his hands deep in his pockets.

Ivan shook his head, "I don't think there was even a secret admirer at all. It was all probably some stupid joke somebody decided to play on me, and they spent the whole dance watching me wait for them. Nobody in their right mind would actually like me."

He pulled his scarf up, so that it covered half his face, and he wearily lumbered behind Alfred at a slower pace. He just wanted to go home.

Alfred scowled at the statement and he shook his head. "You must be kidding, right?", He said with the slightest hint of an edge to his voice. He slowed down so he was walking the same speed as Ivan and put an arm around him like he would to any of his other buds. Except he was just any of his other buds, and Alfred's heart rate picked up speed once again at the contact.

"You just haven t found the right person for you yet I'm sure you have a whole bus full of secret admirers you don't know about." And Alfred would be the idiot bus driver who ran them all over a cliff with his stupidity. God, did he know how to make an idiot of himself. He gave a strained smile and slid his arm off of Ivan s shoulders.

Ivan felt a little comfort from Alfred's words. It reminded him of when they were younger, when Alfred was his hero , and they'd stand up for each other. He could feel his heart beating a little faster than normal when the blonde put an arm around him, but he wanted to say it was just because he was upset about being stood up, but happy that Alfred was actually talking to him again. He was just confused. Although he had to admit he really felt warmer with Alfred being near him. It wasn't like a 'brr I'm cold, but now I'm not' warm, it was more like an inner warmth that made his cheeks pink. Like when he got the letters. But maybe it was just the cold night air.

Alfred feigned a small cough to cover up the silence that had followed his words and action and hurried to his car. "Well Here we are." , he said cheerfully, hoping that the moment of silence would pass. He blinked as he took in Ivan's slightly flushed cheeks and he shook his head, dismissing it as the chilly november evening. The blond slid down into his seat and leaned across the arm rest to open the Russian's door for him. "Hop on in."

"Thank you." Ivan smiled weakly, plopping into the seat tiredly. He closed his eyes wearily, just trying to empty his mind of his terrible evening. He was with Alfred, so that should make him happy but it felt more strange

Alfred buckled his seatbelt, and turned on the ignition, navigating a little slower than normal through the parking lot. Once they got onto the road, the silence became a little awkward. Alfred tapped the steering wheel with his hands a little, trying to not look nervous. He forced a smile, and asked a little too cheerfully, "So...um...how's your family doing? Your dad?"

The Russian leaned his head against the passenger window with a little 'thunk'. He muttered grimly, "He left us a year ago. He was having an affair with another woman."

_Oops._ Alfred immediately regretted asking that, feeling it made the situation even more awkward, "Oh...um...sorry..."

"Good riddance to him. I'm glad he's out of my life." replied Ivan with a shrug. His father had never been proud of him, and a lot of his stress seemed to stem from him. Ivan had grown tired of the verbal and sometimes physical abuse, and now that his father was out of his life, it was out of it too. Less bruises on the arms.

Alfred tried to make the conversation turn in the right direction, and hesitatingly asked, "So um...how're your sisters and mom?"

"Fine." replied Ivan blankly, trying to avoid eye contact with Alfred. His face was still very warm at the moment. He then realized, "Wait, didn't you have a date with you?"

Alfred felt his stomach twist into a knot as he began to stutter, "Ah...nope. I went alone."

"Oh." nodded Ivan, "I kept seeing that Taiwanese girl in our class fawning all over you, so I assumed..."

"Nah, Mei-Mei was just being a little annoying, trying to make some other guy jealous..."

"Do you think it could have been me?" asked Russia, wondering if Mei-Mei had been trying to impress him. She never even talked to him, so trying to make him jealous wouldn't have worked...it would have made him feel used.

Alfred could feel his brain snap in half as he desperately tried to think of an answer. He sputtered, "No, I don't think she would try to impress- ah what I mean is she's probably not your type- you barely know her- but she could have a crush on you- but probably not..."

Ivan had absolutely no clue where Alfred was going with the conversation, and didn't bother to ask. He was just trying to be nice, and cheer him up. The American wouldn't ever have serious emotion towards him. Alfred swallowed hard, wanting to punch himself over and over for being so stupid. He was trying to evade the subject of the dance, but his mind somehow kept bringing him back to it. He was growing so nervous and frustrated that he almost didn't see the car in front of him stopped at the red light, and in a panic, slammed on the brakes.

Ivan jerked forward, a little startled by the immediate stop of the car. He turned to see the American was gripping the wheel a little too tightly, cheeks red like that Spanish classmate's tomatoes. He gave a confused look, "Are you alright, Fredka?"

Alfred could feel his heart stop at the old nickname. The one Ivan gave him when they were small...He forced yet another grin onto his face, "I'm fine. W-We're almost by your house."

The rest of the drive went in silence, both pondering whether to say something or not. They were about a block away when Alfred tried to ease a little tension by saying, "H-hey Ivan, I'm really sorry you got stood up..."

Ivan bit his lip, and gave a small smile, deciding it wasn't worth moping over if Alfred was his friend again, "It's not that big of a deal..."

Alfred shook his head, feeling his mouth run loose, "No, it is. Whoever it was, they were a moron."

Ivan was about to say something, but uncontrollably, Alfred continued near hysterically, "A complete moron! A chump who couldn't even get the courage to walk over and reveal themselves to you because they were afraid they'd be rejected! A complete idiot who left you sitting alone for the whole dance while they were pretending to have a good time!"

Ivan was even more confused now. What was going on with him? He seemed so upset about this, and maybe a little hurt? He tilted his head, violet eyes projecting questions, "Alfred?"

Alfred slammed on the brakes once again, right in front of the Russian's house, like how he remembered it. Turning the car off, he took a deep breath, and gave a small hysterical giggle. He ruined it.

"I sent those letters, okay? Every single one...I tried to tell you earlier during the dance, but I panicked! I felt like complete shit all night because I didn't man up and reveal myself like I said I would..."

Alfred took off his glasses, and rubbed his forehead, wiping off the sweat, "'m really sorry, big guy."

Ivan was struck speechless, his heart skipping a beat. The well written letters, the ones that pointed out seemingly good qualities, decorated with sunflowers and pretty handwriting...they were from Alfred? The boy who never wanted to talk to him again after sixth grade? Body absolutely petrified, he managed to choke out,

"W-why?"

Alfred looked away a moment, but was forced to look back up when he heard the emotional plea from Ivan, whose violet eyes looked about ready to spill over. Cheeks red, he finally said,

"Because I like you."

Ivan's face went blank for just a moment, until he looked down, a downcast look on his face. He tugged his scarf over his mouth, and replied, "You're lying. You ditched me in sixth grade because you thought I liked you..." _maybe I did..._ "Why would you like me now?"

He had gone through middle school with all the different homophobic slurs thrown at him, getting threatening phone calls, and being harassed all during the recesses, and Alfred had been watching from the sidelines. Alfred must have written those letters as a joke, and felt guilty about it. That's why he confessed. Feeling slightly betrayed, Ivan gripped the passenger door handle, and opened it. He stepped out of the car, closing the door a little too loudly. He crossed past the front of the car, to walk up to his front door.

Alfred frantically yanked his seatbelt off, and got out of his car, running after the Russian, catching him by the arm, "W-wait! W-what happened in middle school...I-I'm sorry, okay? I guess I was pretty surprised at the idea that you might actually have liked me that way...and I didn't know how to feel. I thought it was going to make me like a girl or something...and Gil and Sadiq were making up all these stories about you...I was being stupid and I believed them...I-I'm so sorry."

_Darn it Alfred, don't cry..._, he cursed to himself, as he bit his lip, and hoarsely continued, trying to keep his gaze with Ivan, "I-I like you, okay? I-I've liked you for a long time...maybe two years, I dunno...I...I just felt like a complete jerk for making you feel so alone all these years, I was afraid you'd reject me...I've missed you, big guy..."

Ivan looked down at the American, who looked positively ashamed to be saying such things. Alfred had been afraid of being rejected by him? It was almost hard to believe, since the boy would always be off with his group of friends, chatting and smiling, while Ivan would nurse his anti-social nature, jealous of the other's ability to make friends. It was now pretty obvious that Alfred wasn't lying, especially since he was close to tears, looking absolutely scared. Ivan felt so terrible now.

Shaking a little, he hugged the smaller boy tightly, rocking a little back and forth, as he murmured, "I...I missed you too, Fredka. Almost every day, I could only think about how much I wanted to be your friend again..."

Alfred could feel the Russian hugging him tightly, and his heart began to beat rapidly, irregularly for a moment, until it slowed to a pleasant whirring. Feeling incredibly warm, he lay his cheek against the other's broad shoulder, feeling the smooth fabric of Ivan's suit, which was cooled by the night air. It was almost soothing, especially since he felt so drained.

Ivan could feel Alfred returning the embrace and was afraid his heart would beat so fast, it would fall out. Thinking back to the dance, he remembered the other couples, how happy they looked. Ivan murmured into Alfred's hair, "F-Fredka?"

Alfred looked up, blue eyes surprisingly much calmer as his blond hair was slightly covering his eyes, "Hm?"

"W-would you dance with me?" Ivan asked nervously. He just wanted to feel that closeness other dancers might have felt with their dates. Anyway, Alfred had asked him to the dance, and thus he was entitled to a dance.

Alfred bit his lip nervously, cheeks red. He was kind of hoping Ivan was joking, but he saw absolute seriousness in those _gorgeous_ violet eyes. It would be kind of weird, dancing on the Russian's front lawn, but then again, the poor guy spent the whole dance sitting at a table, so he kind of deserved it. He nodded, and muttered, "Ok, Sunny."

Ivan smiled at the nickname, and positioned his hands onto Alfred's shoulders, like how he saw the others at school do.

Alfred gave a sigh of exasperation. Ivan was expecting him to put his hands by his waist, wasn't he? He was going to tell him that was for the girls, but decided on putting his own hands on the other's broad shoulders. It was a little awkward of an embrace, but it was okay for them.

They really didn't _dance_, Ivan noticed. They just kind of bobbed on the soles of their feet, swaying a little. But even if the other couples at school were slow dancing like in those romance films, he felt even closer to Alfred than they probably ever could.

At one point, perhaps thirty seconds later, their faces got closer, breath heating each other's dry lips. It was too close for Alfred to leave the gap there, and before he knew it, before he could control himself, he connected the space between them. He was horrified.

Ivan could feel his body seize as he felt Alfred's warm lips on his own, and was stuck frozen, as his mind was coding through absolute gibberish. But he realized, he couldn't care less. Alfred was so _warm_, and it made his heart beat all too fast. And the only solution was to kiss back. Nothing too serious, it was simply a press of the lips with breaths going in and out into each other's mouth.

Alfred then pressed his lips a little harder, and felt something cut his lip. He pulled back, crying, "Ow!"

Ivan was holding his mouth, eyes wide a little. Alfred must have gotten his lip caught on his lower braces, because he could feel something tugging them. He started apologetically, "I-I'm sorry, I hope you're not hurt-"

Alfred held his hand up with a small smile, and chuckled, "Heh, you never told me you had braces, big guy. Just be glad I got mine taken off last spring, 'cause if we had kissed then, they'd have gotten locked together."

Ivan gave a small closed-mouth smile, "I got them last year...I guess I forgot to warn you..."

Alfred gave another smile, and shrugged, cheeks pink, "Will a kiss on the cheek do for now? I don't wanna risk getting my lip caught again just yet."

"Da." smiled Ivan, a bigger grin on his face. The American stood on his toes, and pecked his boyfriend (_yes_, his boyfriend)'s cheek. It was so smooth and warm, enough to make him smile.

Ivan gave an open grin, revealing his braces, but he couldn't care now. His dance experience had been a disaster, his first kiss ended a little wonky, but his friendship with Alfred was repaired, and he was in love. It was a success in the long run.

He was about to return a kiss to Alfred, but he could hear his mother laughing on the front porch, singing in Russian about how she knew her son would end up getting a boyfriend sometime. Face red from embarrassment, he turned to Alfred and stuttered, "I...um...I've got some popcorn. Would you...like to come inside and have some?"

Heart leaping, Alfred gave a signature grin, and nodded, "Sure thing."

They didn't let go of each other's hands until they got inside the house.


End file.
